University of Illinois Chicago supplemental essays

Program-specific prompts

These apply only if you are applying to the named program or school.

• Honors CollegeRequired500 words max

  Academic challenges you sought

  Please describe in detail ways that you have sought out academic challenges and personal growth opportunities while in high school. Examples can include activities both inside or outside of your school.

  How to approach it

  For a challenge prompt, the challenge is the setup, not the essay. Spend most of the words on what you did and how you changed. Readers are wary of trauma used as currency; growth is the currency.

• Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions (GPPA)Required500 words max

  Why a guaranteed seat

  By applying to the GPPA programs, you are applying for a guaranteed seat in one of UIC's graduate and professional programs earlier than students who apply in a traditional manner. The GPPA program seeks to understand why you have chosen your intended profession and a guaranteed path into it. What makes you an ideal candidate for guaranteed admission rather than following a traditional path to your intended profession? How would a guaranteed seat contribute to your goals as an undergraduate?

  How to approach it

  Program-fit prompts are the most literal question on the application: why this training, for your goals. Answer in that order. Name the goal, point to the two or three specific pieces of the program that serve it, and show one thing you have already done that proves the goal is real.